AHC: winner of 2000 election where Bush and Gore don't run

samcster94

Banned
The U.S. came to a very narrow Bush victory in 2000. What happens if Bush and Gore both decided not to run??
Bonus points if there is no President McCain(Given he was the obvious alternative).
 
Ah... wrong forum. Also, if Bush isn't running, McCain is the obvious choice. Romney hadn't built up a resume yet. Little does he know he's too unlikable to be president, even though I think his administration went well.

Hypothetically, suppose you are in charge of something. You then hire subordinate A, B, C, D, E, F, and G to new positions. You authorize your powers to them, so that their signatures count as your own until you fire them. The you walk away and are absent 75% of the time. Meanwhile, almost everything except external problems go your way and whatever you were in charge of is a smashing success. Do you deserve credit for fixing and running things smoothly, or does your subordiantes deserve all the credit and you didn't do that.
 
Bill Bradley was the only other D to run in OTL. You'd probably see a few governors jump in if Gore isn't on the ballot. Roy Romer, Ben Nelson and Zell Miller were recently term limited out of office (1998). Mel Carnahan might have gone for the White House instead of the Senate. There were also a few incumbents who were in the middle of their second term in 2000.

Maybe Fred Thompson on the GOP side. The POD for Gore not running might be that Thompson's campaign finance investigation is allowed to go forward (instead of former Ole Miss cheerleader Trent Lott shutting it down). The investigation makes Gore, along with other people in both partied, look bad and raises Thompson's national profile.
 
Ah... wrong forum. Also, if Bush isn't running, McCain is the obvious choice. Romney hadn't built up a resume yet. Little does he know he's too unlikable to be president, even though I think his administration went well.

Hypothetically, suppose you are in charge of something. You then hire subordinate A, B, C, D, E, F, and G to new positions. You authorize your powers to them, so that their signatures count as your own until you fire them. The you walk away and are absent 75% of the time. Meanwhile, almost everything except external problems go your way and whatever you were in charge of is a smashing success. Do you deserve credit for fixing and running things smoothly, or does your subordiantes deserve all the credit and you didn't do that.
McCain was as successful as he was because all of the other serious candidates (Dole, Alexander, Quayle) dropped out before the primaries, or didn't run at all (Ashcroft, Engler, Pataki). Bush's money was too hard to match. It was McCain and Keyes-Forbes figures against Bush. Without Bush, McCain is a minor candidate.
 
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